Crossroads in the Labyrinth

• Book: Les Carrefours Du Labyrinthe. (Multiple volumes). Cornelius Castoriadis.

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English: Crossroads in the Labyrinth. Cornelis Castoriadis.

Review

Michel Bauwens, 2004:

Castoriadis was at first a 'post-Trotskyist' dissident activist and intellectual, who, faced with the defeat of the socialist project, continued on thinking about how to construct a more humane society.

The books starts with two long essays on psycho-analysis and science, which I skipped for the two last essays on Technology and Equality.

The essay starts with retracing the etymology and usage of the concept of Techne with the ancient Greeks, culminating in the common notion of the neutrality of technology. Marx subsumes the concept under that of labour, the key to man's autoproduction, but his youthful acceptance of the complexity of the notion, gradually makes place for a more positive appreciation of technology as embodying the rational mastery over nature, but which is unfortunately hijacked by capital.

Castoriadis challenges the Greek notion that 'technology imitates nature'. Rather it is 'absolute creation', it does precisely what 'nature cannot do'! It is an act of creation, but also part of the total creation that is the social system. Material technology is augmented with the social technology that makes society possible.

The traditional vision, since Aristoteles, is that technology is a means, and by itself 'neutral', as it is the end that has values. If technology does have a value, it is 'efficiency'. This is of course fallacious, when the totality of technical means is considered, it is not just a possession of society, but 'possesses' that society as well. Even a 'total revolution', conscious of this technological determinism, would still be determined by it.

The historical-materialist determinism is also problematical, because technique cannot be abstracted from the totality of social relations.

   - L’ensemble technique est privé de sens, si on le sépare de l’ensemble économique et social.

   - “Organisation sociale et technique sont deux termes qui expriment la création et l’autoposition d’une société donnée. Dans l’organisation sociale d’ensemble, fins et moyens, significations et instruments, efficacité et valeur, ne sont pas séparables. Toute société crée son monde, interne et externe, et cette création n’est ni instrument, ni cause, mais ‘dimension’, partout présente." (p. 307)

   - “Le monde moderne est sans doute 'déterminé', à une foule de niveaux, par sa technologie; mais cette technologie n’est rien d’autre qu’une des expressions essentielles à ce monde, son ‘langage’, à l'égard de la nature exterieure et interieure.” (p. 311)

Technology as it exists today, is not a function of knowledge, or of its growth, but of a fundamental cultural re-orientation concerning the goal of this knowledge, apparent since the formulation by Descartes, that we aim to be the 'masters and owners of creation'.

Castoriadis also stresses that technology is also a function of social conflict, particularly 'within the enterprise', and that this pushes preferentially towards technology, without workers. Thus there is a 'capitalist' technology, rather than technology 'in general'.

In Marxism, technology was a given, part of the 'realm of necessity'. This is no longer the case: not only techniques, but technology in general, are challenged. Technology has become a political question. Today we know that for social change to be possible, it will be necessary to re-invent the technical assemblies, which will require self-managed groups working closely with technicians. A key issue will be the continued requirement for universalisation.